


Pacific Rim: Rebirth

by Loriela



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Angst, Angst and Feels, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Giant Robots, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-10-09 19:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17413187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loriela/pseuds/Loriela
Summary: In recent years the history of Etheria has been one of war, of invasions, of giant monstrosities, but it was also one of heroes. Among those heroes stood Adam and Adora. Holding the highest kill count in the jaeger program these siblings and their jaeger, Greyskull, help protect the world from the kaiju invasion, until they no longer could.Left alone and damaged after a gruesome fight, Adora must find the strength to rise up and fight once more against the ever growing kaiju threat.Based on the fantastic Pacific Rim AU by catradora-au-headcanons.tumblr.com





	1. Revery

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna thank catradora-au-headcanons once again for letting me work with her amazing AU and all you lovely nerds for giving this angsty mess a read  
> Hope you all enjoy it

Adora is awoken by the familiar sound of a blaring alarm. As she dragged herself out of bed she barely listened to the automated message playing in her room “Greyskull report to bay A2 immediately. Kaiju Category 4”. Perhaps awake wouldn’t be the exact term for her state right now, her brother on the other hand was already getting in uniform humming something to cheer himself up.

“Come on, sis, we got a big one today” Only Adam could be this cheerful at 3 in the morning, but at least someone in the team got used to the odd working hours “Category 4 Kaiju. Codename: Skeletor” He paused, holding his hand in front of himself like he was trying to imagine the name on a movie poster. Adora had to chuckle a little at that. How does K-Watch come up with names like that?

* * *

Marshall Sarah Weaver walked confidently into the LOCCENT Mission Control. A special HUD installed in her mask showed the current position of Skeletor and the progress on Greyskull’s launch sequence. Everything was going perfectly.

“Ma’am are you sure we should be sending Greyskull against a Category 4 on her own?” asked Doctor Perfuma. Her presence in Mission Control was tolerable, but the Marshall would not stand to have her orders questioned “Moon Opal’s repairs are completely non-critical. We should be able to deploy-”

“That is enough, doctor, I’m confident that my pupils are more than capable of handling a single kaiju” Indeed today would be her greatest success yet. Her pupils, her creations, would be amongst the first to defeat a Category 4 by themselves “Initiate drop sequence”

* * *

Greyskull was a huge and clunky piece of metal, powered by a monster of a nuclear reactor and she was beautiful. Perhaps it came as a side effect of the drift, like the jaeger itself was a third person partaking in the Handshake, but there was a sense of familiarity and comfort just from standing in its Conn-pod. Greyskull was as much family to Adora and Adam as they were to each other.

“I caught one of the Moon Opal pilots eyeing you earlier” Adam commented as they finished suiting up and walked into the Conn-pod. Adora rolled her eyes at that comment.

“Glimmer is just a friend, thank you very much” She started strapping her drivesuit to the jaeger’s control system “And you have no right to comment on that. How many guys have been staring at you all day?”

Adam laughed at that. “It’s not my fault they have such good taste” He finished strapping up his drive suit and turned on the Conn-pod’s heads up display “This is Greyskull reporting in. We are ready to initiate the drop”

“Copy that, Greyskull. Initiating drop” came Entrapta’s voice through the radio. As soon as she finished saying those words came the feeling of vertigo as the Conn-pod dropped several hundred meters and attached itself to Greyskull’s frame “Initiating Neural Handshake sequence in 15 seconds”

“They wouldn’t be falling head over heels for you if they knew the kind of thing that goes through your head” Adora jabbed at her older brother as Entrapta counted down in the background.

Adam laughed again. That was his way of dealing with things: Laughter “Gimme a couple of seconds and the only things going through my mind are gonna be you and Greyskull. Literally”

Just as he finished saying that the countdown reaches zero. Memories start flooding them both. A crowded storm bunker, their parents death, a little crying girl, years of training in the jaeger program, every kaiju they ever killed, the highest kill count in the whole program. As quick as they came these memories vanished.

The siblings raised their left arm and then their right. Looked to one side and then the other. “Calibrations complete. Neural Handshake holding strong” Dr. Perfuma announced cheerfully through the radio “Greyskull. You’re clear to launch from the Bright Moon Shatterdome”

When one sees a jaeger in action and watches the titanic fights against the Kaiju, they still have no idea of the power that thing carries. That is a feeling reserved to the pilots. Only when you’re part of a jaeger can you understand how it feels to be a monster built to fight monsters, an earthquake given shape, to be two thousand tons of metal and fighting prowess. As Greyskull was lifted off the ground and flown right into the line of combat that is the feeling that filled the siblings, the feeling that they could take on anything.

* * *

The shore was still visible when Skeletor came into view and it became clear why K-Watch chose that name. Almost every inch of that massive, blue monstrosity was covered in dense bone plates. It may not be the largest Category 4, but it was clearly the heaviest and most well protected. Taking that thing down was gonna take some work.

Greyskull itself was also not the biggest nor fastest Mark 3 jaeger, but it more than compensated in raw power. Built with a wrestling fighting style in mind it was designed to crush, pummel and throw kaijus of upwards of 3 thousands tons. If anything could break through Skeletors thick skull it was gonna be Greyskull.

The battle was brutal and drawn out. Each blow carrying the strength to demolish entire city blocks. Each combatant denting and cracking each other’s armor, but never truly breaking through. These monsters of bone and metal were equally matched and this was making Marshall Weaver very impatient.

“Greyskull, deploy your swords immediately” Couldn’t they see they could have finished that thing off five times already? She trained them for this exact moment. They should not be failing her like this.  


“That is gonna be a ‘no’ from us, Marshall” Adam answered through the radio with a calm tone

“WHAT?” Weaver was furious. This was not the time for insubordination.

Adora answered this time “We’re too close to the coast line. If that thing starts bleeding here there is no way to predict the damage it will do to the nearby cities” Yes, Kaiju Blue was extremely toxic to all life on earth, Marshall Weaver was very personally aware of that, but that was not the point. Who cared if a couple of fishermen died? That thing was putting entire cities at risk. It was putting her star pupils at risk. It was putting years of her work at risk.

“Adam! Adora! You’ll both listen to me now and deploy your swords. This is a direct order from your superior”

“Greyskull I can offer you another solution” Perfuma announced out of turn, again “There is a nearby landmass where you can drag your fight to. It is uninhabited and would minimize the effects of Kaiju Blue”

“Just point us in the right direction, doc” Adam’s voice returned on the radio. How dare they ignore her in her own Shatterdome? They would ruin everything she worked so hard to achieve, but she would not let them.

“Cancel Moon Opal’s repairs. I want it on the field immediately” Marshall Weaver barked at her subordinates. She was not going to lose her greatest creation, no matter the cost.

* * *

A minimap appeared in the corner of Greyskull’s HUD, with a small island marked as a target. Adam smiled and turned to Adora “You know, I just had the stupidest idea ever” Adora didn’t need the rift to know exactly what that idea was, so she just nodded and turned back to the task at hand.

Greyskull forced Skeletor to stand up on its hind legs and proceeded to grab the beast by its exposed belly. The full weight of Skeletor collapsed over her, but the jaeger just dug her heels into the ocean floor and held on against its monstruos weight. Then, as if they were in a rugby match, Greyskull started running. Skeletor pummelled Greyskull, trying to break free of the jaeger’s grasp, but that hulking titan of steel continued its march towards the island, pushing the kaiju along with it.

When they both reached dry land Greyskull finally let go of her prey and pushed the monstrosity back first into the ground. “By the power of Greyskull” Adora and Adam shouted in unison as a pair of chainswords formed from Greyskull’s wrists, but this was the moment they committed a fatal mistake. As they walked towards Skeletor, to finish the job, they found that the beast too had a secret weapon.

While the kaiju fought in the ocean it made sure to hide its lower half, but now that it was forced to fight in land its surprise was finally revealed. A long tail, ending in a ball of spikes and bones. It swung against Greyskull’s legs. Knocking the jaeger off balance and straight into the ground. She tried to get up, but it was already too late.

When Adora looked at Adam she could see Skeletor’s claws beginning to dig into Greyskull’s right hemisphere. They both knew what was about to happen and this time there was no laughter in Adam’s eyes. He just gave her the most reassuring look he could muster and said “We did the right thing”

One moment there was indescribable pain, not that of a jaeger being damaged by a kaiju, but the very human pain of death, and in the next there was nothing. It felt like the entire world went silent, numb, as soon as Adam was no longer there with her.

That was the day Adora lost her brother, her jaeger and herself. People would tell her how she somehow killed Skeletor herself, how she fought like a mad woman out for blood, how Moon Opal had to rescue her from Greyskull as the jaeger fell apart. Adora doesn’t remember any of that, all she can remember from that night were those last few moments and the words that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“We did the right thing”


	2. Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months have passed since the fall of Greyskull and while Adora recovers, another cadet continues her training

Catra was the best cadet in the Fright Zone Shatterdome. Not Lonnie, not Rogelio and definitely not Kyle, but Catra and she was more than happy to remind everyone of that. 26 consecutive matches, 4 to 0 and as Kyle hit the tatami floor it were now 27.

“I see you haven’t changed one bit, Catra” a familiar voice called from behind her. Catra turned around to see the kind face of Director Angella Moon, looking at her with amusement “You still don’t know the meaning of restraint”

Catra immediately stood in attention. “Director Moon, with all due respect, the Kaiju aren’t gonna show restraint towards us” Catra believed she was making a good point, but Director Moon appeared to find this amusing.

“Just Angella is fine” she waved at Catra as to tell her to relax “And you may be right, but you’re not in this dojo to fight kaiju. You’re here to find your drift partner” Angella helped Kyle to stand and picked up his staff “Think of these not as weapons, but as a means of communication. That way we can finally find you a partner and maybe I can save on the medical bills”

“Well, if they can’t handle a very active ‘communication’ with me then maybe they are not fit to be my partner” Catra put her staff aside and opened up space for the next duo to start practicing “And what are you even doing in the Fright Zone? Shouldn’t you be back in Bright Moon organizing your last pilots?”

At that question Angella’s kind expression was washed away from her face and replaced by an overwhelming sense of tiredness and regret “It is because of one of those pilots that I’m here” she let out a tired sigh “She is no longer capable of serving at Bright Moon and I’d rather have a pilot serving somewhere else than no pilot at all, even if that means she is gonna have to work with Weaver”

The very mention of Marshal Weaver or, how some of the cadets called her nowadays, Shadow Weaver was enough to send a shiver down Catra’s spine. Why anyone would willingly work for that woman was beyond her and that pilot must be completely insane if she is rejecting Bright Moon for this

“You’re a good soldier, Catra. If it were up to me you would be a ranger out in the field already, but even as Director there are so many things that aren’t up to me” She seems to collect her thoughts for a moment before turning to leave “Promise me you’ll take good care of my pilot, Catra. She deserves better”

Catra nodded “You have my word, ma’am” Well that was ominous. She was about to return to the dojo to continue her morning ass kicking, but Director Angella really got her out of the fighting mood, so she took a quick shower and left for the cafeteria.

* * *

When she returned to the Fright Zone’s Kaiju Research Division, Doctor Perfuma couldn’t help but notice a new ammonia tank containing what appears to be a piece of a Kaiju brain. There were no recent combat operations in the region and she received no notification about any deliveries, so that left only one logical explanation for the new specimen.

“Entrapta, what did you do?”

The other scientist nearly jumped from under her table with how fast she got up. Instead of the usual bits and pieces of kaiju tissue she worked with she was carrying an odd arrangement of spare mechanical parts “Hello, Perfuma. What **did** I do?” She seemed to follow Perfuma’s gaze to the new ammonia tank “Oh, right. Perfuma, meet Emily. I finished cloning her this morning”

“You did what?” Of course Entrapta would somehow find a way of cloning a kaiju brain, of course she would proceed to do so without even notifying her superiors or her lab partner and of fucking course she would call her kaiju clone ‘Emily’. Perfuma closed her eyes and took a deep breath “Entrapta, when I said you should make more friends I didn't mean literally make them”

“Oh but I did make friends. Not that I find that necessary. I already have you and that is enough for me” Perfuma wasn’t sure if that woman could even hears what she says some times. Perfuma took another deep breath, this time for a different reason.

“Yeah ok. So who are those friends you made?” Perfuma was more than happy to divert the conversation away from Emily, Entrapta herself or anything else that could cause any more headaches.

“Well, I left the lab yesterday - or was it today? - yeah, it was definitely today. Anyway, I left the lab like you told me to, get to know our new Shatterdome and all that, when I bumped into an extraordinarily tall person. Like literally bumped”

Perfuma continued to absentmindedly hum and nod as Entrapta’s story continued. Not like the story wasn’t interesting or anything, but she had more important things to focus on, like how on Etheria was she gonna catalogue Emily? She was pretty sure there was no box she could check for ‘Experimental kaiju clone and/or pet’.

“So the tall one decides to invite me over for lunch at the cafeteria as an apology and she introduces me to a very moody looking friend of hers. The moody one didn’t seem to care much about me at first, but showed a lot of interest once I mentioned that I worked in the K-science division”

“Very interesting, but just to be sure I didn’t miss anything, why are you carrying all that scrap metal around again?” Entrapta’s specialty was kaiju biology and genetics, not mechanical engineering or robotics. What would she ever need all those spares for?

“Oh, I’m building the tall one a robotic claw arm” 

“You are what!?” Perfuma once again wondered if Entrapta ever heard a single word that left her own mouth

* * *

“Can you imagine that? Robotic claw arm. That just sounds so cool” Scorpia continue to talk at Catra as they both walked through the Shatterdome’s corridors “I mean, not that I don’t like my normal prosthetics. They get the job done, but like ‘robotic claw arm’ . Tell me that isn’t the coolest thing ever”

Catra couldn’t get her mind around Scorpia. She was built like a freaking jaeger, has more scars than the Salineas Wall, works next to massive nuclear reactors all day and yet still managed to go on for hours about how cool her new prosthetic was gonna be or how nice that scientist lady was or how the food at the cafeteria was exceptionally not shit today. How could a single human being be so screwed over, but at the same time so cheerful?

She was only half listening to Scorpia when she heard the last thing she wanted to hear right now. Marshal Weaver’s voice. She quickly stopped Scorpia and pushed them both into an adjacent room, hoping that the Marshal would move on without noticing them.

“It’s so nice to finally have you with us again, Adora” Wait, Adora? Why did Catra know that name? “The Fright Zone is more than happy to welcome such a seasoned pilot” Whoever was with the Marshal just murmured something in agreement. She could barely hear that voice and yet it still sounded familiar. If Catra looked now she would risk getting caught skulking around by Shadow Weaver, but the curiosity was killing her, she had to know why this felt so familiar. When she finally peeked around the corner realization hit her like a kaiju’s fist.

Next to the Marshal stood a girl she never thought she would see again. The girl that stood by her in the storm bunker so many years ago, who protected her when her entire life had gone to shit, but she was different. There was no kindness in her face only a steely and cold determination. Catra did not like this, this was not Adora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted every Sunday and while you wait feel free to visit my tumblr at shera-dnd.tumblr.com or the creator of this fantastic AU catradora-au-headcanons.tumblr.com


	3. Returned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After months away from the program, Adora must now find a new copilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longest and angstiest chapter yet. Lets see how well I handled that.

Fourteen months. That is how long it took to build the first generation of jaegers and that is how long it took for Adora to recover. Fourteen months locked inside a hospital, waiting for her nervous system to recover. Fourteen months watching walls falling and jaegers being destroyed. Fourteen months of a hole in her mind where Adam used to be.

People would visit her from time to time to try to console her or ask her how she felt or to praise her for her heroic efforts. It all meant nothing. Console her? Did any of them even understand what had happened to her? Not without the drift. The only one that ever could was now dead. Praise her? For what? Failing and letting Adam die? Disobeying orders and suffering the consequences? No one deserved praise for any of that.

“Good to see you’re recovering well” Adora was vaguely aware of Director Moon sitting next to her bed. Her comments felt as empty as everyone else’s, but at least she seemed to be aware of that. She just wanted to fill the silence with something. So they wouldn’t have to talk about that.

“I remember when Glimmer heard I had solo piloted a jaeger” Angella’s face lit up as she mentioned her daughter. Adora heard this story a dozen times before, but she didn’t mind hearing it again or at least didn’t show any intention of interrupting her “You think that she would just feel sad over that story, but no. She felt like one upping me and decided to hook herselt to Moon Opal alone.” she laughed as she recounted these details “Couldn’t take the first step before we had to rush her to the infirmary. She had to spend a full week in bed rest and I scolded her for every second of it” her laughter slowly died down “She had me worried sick for so long after that. I couldn’t ever step inside a jaeger after what I went through and I wouldn’t blame her if she couldn’t too. I wouldn’t blame you”

“Did he tell you anything?” it was the first thing Adora said in weeks “When Micah died. Did he say anything to you?” Angella was the only other person in the world that could understand what she went through. The one other pilot who ever had to fight alone. Who lost everything

Angella smiled. There was pain in her eyes, from that terrible memory, but she smiled just the same “No. He just looked at me, smiled one last time and then he was gone” She sighed “I think he just expected that I would understand everything through the drift, but in the end there are things I just wish were said out loud”

“Before Adam…..before Adam was gone he said ‘we did the right thing’” Not I ‘love you’, no goodbyes, no nothing. Adora was fighting back her tears as hard as she could “That is why I have to get back there and fight. I want to do the right thing again” for him.

Angella just nodded “Then we have get you back in action, ranger”

A few months after that Adora was released from the hospital and free to return to her duties in the jaeger program. Just not back in Bright Moon, she couldn’t handle all the memories, but in the Fright Zone. A new shatterdome, a new jaeger, a new Adora, but the same mission.

* * *

“So this is the new project the high ups have been keeping under wraps?” Catra asked, amused. She was standing with Scorpia in one of those moving platforms the repair team uses to work on the jaegers. Their platform had just stopped in front of jaeger she had never seen before. How did they keep an entire jaeger hidden for so long was beyond her.

“Yup” Scorpia answered gleefully “Me and the guys have been working day and night on this thing and, let me tell you, it has to be my favorite jaeger yet” she said that about every jaeger she ever worked on, but Catra wasn’t gonna bring that up “The advanced tech from a mark 5, joined with the ingenuity of the mark 1s. The rebuilt Light Spinner model” Scorpia was almost jumping up and down with excitement and Catra wasn’t sure how safe that was when they were standing 60 meters off the ground. “We call her Light Hope”

Scorpia may be exploding with excitement, but to Catra this thing just looked clunky. The old mark 1s were ‘ingenious’, but most of them got destroyed for a reason and mark 5 tech was not meant to interact like that with a nuclear core “Wait. Why does this thing have a nuclear core? Aren’t all mark 5s digital?”

Scorpia blushed at that comment “Yeah, we kinda didn’t have the resources to build a new jaeger from scratch. With the wall and all that, you know? So we used some spare parts from older jaegers we had lying around” Well that explains the clunkiness. That thing is Frankenstein’s Jaeger. “We even had some parts shipped from Salineas and Bright Moon. We manage to salvage that core from the Greyskull model that fell last year”

Adora’s jaeger. She remembered the news last year. The greatest stars of the jaeger program fell in battle against a cat-4. Back then she couldn’t recognize their faces, sure the girl looked familiar, but to think that it really was Adora. ‘Was’ that was the real key word there. The fall of Greyskull changed her. Catra couldn’t blame her for that, but that didn’t mean it doesn’t feel wrong.

“I gotta go, Scorpia” she couldn’t keep looking at that thing anymore “Gotta get some training and all that”

* * *

Training went as usual. Catra won every time and her perfect score kept piling up. There was just one small change, in the form of a cold and distant, blond woman staring off into the distance as Catra trashed the opposition. It was driving Catra insane. She beat someone without sweat and Adora didn’t care, she decided to make a show of it and Adora didn’t care, she actually let some asshole get a few points on her before beating him up and Adora still didn’t care. Something had to get a reaction out of her and Catra was running out of options. Until she decided to take things one step further.

After beating up Kyle again, Catra took his staff and threw it towards Adora. She didn’t have to look to know Adora caught it effortlessly “Wanna join me for a dance, princess? Or should I start charging for the show” teasing people was Catra’s specialty. Years of working under Marshall Weaver taught her so many different ways of getting under people’s skin.

Adora’s empty look didn’t change, but she was still walking towards Catra with her staff in hand. Catra grabbed her own staff and prepared for the fight to come. This one was gonna be good, she could feel it. The sound of a staff hitting the tatami floor shattered the moment. Adora stood before her, empty handed and stared her down “I don’t want to fight you” her words were slow and deliberate. Her tone was cold, but determined and for a split second Catra was paralyzed, unsure of what to do, but the whispers behind her broke her out of her trance.

Those whispers and murmurs followed her around all day. Everything was extremely efficient at the Fright Zone Shatterdome, including the rumour mill. ‘I heard they had some kind of rivalry’, ‘I heard Adora kicked her ass. Catra must want a rematch’, ‘She has been jealous of Adora since they were just recruits’ It was all bullshit, but that didn’t keep it from spreading like fucking wildfire and no matter were Catra went, the whispers followed her there. She was trying to enjoy her lunch with Scorpia when she heard something that finally made her snap.

“She is probably just jealous” whoever said that either didn’t care if Catra was listening or made sure that she was.

“Why would she be jealous?” the second person on the other hand was at least trying to be quiet, even if they were failing tremendously.

“Didn’t you hear? She was just called to the hangar” What? Why would Adora be called to the hangar? “They said she was gonna do a drift test with Shadow Wea- I mean Marshal Weaver”

“She must be one hell of a pilot to be drifting with the Marshal” More like one hell of a madwoman. Drifting with Shadow Weaver? Just the thought of it made Catra feel unclean “Shit, I would be jealous too” Catra didn’t want to hear any more of this. She stood up, glared at whoever was talking and left. Only silence followed her out.

* * *

Catra was absolutely furious, but she was also morbidly curious. She wanted to know what would come of this drift test. A small part of her still rooted for catastrophic failure just to spite the Marshal, but the rest of her cared too much for Adora to ever want that. Why did she care so much for Adora? Not knowing the answer to that made her even angrier.

When she finally got to LOCCENT Mission Control the room was nearly empty. Even with the rumours spreading no one wanted to watch the drift test. Only Director Moon, Dr. Perfuma and Entrapta worked the many stations at Mission Control. The atmosphere in the room was supposed to be one of expectation, but all she could read in the room was this sense of gloom, like no one was happy with this. Except for one person.

“I wish you could see your face now, Angella” Shadow Weaver’s voice came through the radio. Infuriatingly smug “I’ve been waiting so long for this moment” That was probably the first time Catra ever heard the Marshal sounding happy or whatever twisted version of happiness the Marshal could feel.

“I would like to remind you, Marshal Weaver, that this is merely a test. We are here to test your compatibility with Adora, as per your request” Director Moon on the other hand just sounded tired. More than her usual tiredness and even more than the usual ‘dealing with Marshal Weaver tiredness’ “If it all goes well then I’ll consider assigning her as your partner”

“Oh I have no doubts about our compatibility. I’ve trained and raised her since she was a child” That was odd. Adora must have trained under Weaver for as long as Catra, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing her in the program before “but tell me, Angella, how does it feel seeing this jaeger again?”

It was Light Hope. The strange mish mash of marks 1, 3 and 5. Of course Weaver had a hand in building this mess, but it looked like Director Moon had something to do with this jaeger too or whatever this jaeger was before Weaver got her claws on it. The Director looked almost sad as she gazed through the observation window, her response came as a whisper and Catra only managed to catch one word “Sarah…”

“Director, we are ready to initiate the neural handshake” Entrapta’s voice broke the spell that held Angella in place and the preparations continued in quick and tense silence. Catra’s imagination started drifting off. Wandering what it must feel like inside a Conn-pod. She never managed to drift test with anyone - Weaver made sure of that - so she never got to know what a Conn-pod looked like from the inside or how the drift felt. Unfortunately she was quickly snapped out of her revery by the sounds of everything going to shit.

Alarms started blaring from everywhere in the room. Entrapta was frantically typing at her station “It’s not holding up. They are both chasing!” Random Access Brain Impulse Triggers or ‘chasing the rabbit’. Catra heard about this a thousand times, but watching it in person was a completely different experience. It was what happened when pilots latched to random memories inside the drift and the results were always catastrophic.

“Sarah! Adora!...Adora!” Angella kept calling through the radio, but it all went unanswered. They were all desperately trying to reconnect with Light Hope, to no avail and their efforts were all put to a stop as they heard the groaning of metal and the hulking form of Light Hope began to raise its hands “Cut the connection! Now!”

The Director’s orders were followed with quick efficiency and the jaeger slowly returned to its dormant state. “Weaver, can you hear me? Marshal, respond” Director Moon called through the radio once more. There were a few moments of tense silence, but the answer eventually came.

“Yes…I can hear you” the Marshal sounded exhausted, both physically and mentally “Adora, dear-”

“No! Don’t touch me!” Adora’s response was angry, but her voice started to crack and soon sobbing could be heard through the radio “It was all your fault...Adam’s….Adam’s….It was all on you!” A sudden ping on one of the monitors indicated Adora disconnected her drivesuit.

Catra just stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment before deciding this was probably the best moment for her to bolt. A lot had just happened and she needed to get back to her room and just process all of this day. By the time she reached her room she managed to catch a glimpse of Adora slamming her door. Catra had spent the whole morning trying to get a reaction out of Adora, to break through the walls of ice she had built around herself and now she finally got what she wanted, just in the worst way possibly. With Adora’s muffled sobbing echoing through the corridors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missed my deadline by just over an hour, but I'll try to actually post the next one on sunday  
> While you wait for the next update feel free to visit me at shera-dnd.tumblr.com and show your love to the creator of this fantastic AU at catradora-au-headcanons.tumblr.com


	4. Reacquainted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Adora's big revelation Catra must find a way of keeping her promise to Angella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE HAVE RETURNED...no, wait, that is the name of the last chapter.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for not updating for so long, college happened
> 
> I'll try to keep this on schedule again, but I make no promises

Catra didn’t know when she fell asleep, but when she woke up the crying had stopped. The silence wasn’t any more comforting, but now she could think straight for a moment. Adora’s last words before storming off still echoed in her mind ‘it was you fault’. What did she see in Weaver’s memories? Weaver was an awful bitch, but trying to kill her star pupils was just stupid. If she was going to help Adora she needed answers. 

Accessing the reports on Greyskull’s missions was easier than Catra had expected. From images to audio transcripts to data on Greyskull’s power consumption. Everything was neatly cataloged for future reference. Catra took a moment to look at their pictures. Adora and Adam Smith. She had seen their faces on the news so many times and yet she couldn’t recognize Adora until she was standing right in front of her.

She still remembered the day Greyskull fell. She mourned the loss of a jaeger pilot like all her Shatterdome did that day, like people all around Etheria did that day. When Catra lost her family she had been too young to remember their faces. She couldn’t imagine how Adora must have felt like after losing Adam. No, she couldn’t just sit around thinking about how awful things were. She had to make Shadow Weaver pay for what she’s done.

As she searched for a way to prove the Marshall’s fault in all of this she couldn’t help but overhear a voice coming from the corridor. “Adora, are you awake?” it was Director Moon “I wanted to tell you you’ve been dismissed from trained for the next few days. You shouldn’t push yourself after all this” the Director’s voice was kind like she always was outside of mission control, but Catra doubted it would make a difference. Adora was hard headed and competitive, telling her not to push herself was only gonna make things worse. Catra had only read a few lines of Adora’s bio, but she knew they had that in common.

“I’ve called an investigation on Sarah’s involvement on the fall of Greyskull. She will remain in charge until I can convince the Board to act, but I wanted you to know that we’re working on it” Angella stopped, she was trying to choose what to say next. To her, Adora wasn’t just an ace jaeger pilot or a ranger, she was a child who was never given the chance to be one. So she decided it was best to leave it at that. She had taken just a few steps away from Adora’s room when she heard a door opening behind her “I made a promise to you, ma’am” it was Catra, she must’ve been listening in on her this whole time “and I intend to keep it” Angella gave her a soft and tired smile

“I’m counting on you, ranger”

Catra just gave her a curt nod and got back into her room. Angella was handling the real investigation now, which left Catra with a new task at hand ‘cheering Adora up’ and she had just the plan for that.

* * *

Perfuma was glad that she had so many friends. She never had to eat alone, she always had someone to talk to and she got to hear all the big news around the Shatterdome as soon as they happened, like the fact that a very angry Sarah Weaver was making her way to the Kaiju Research Division and that Perfuma had just a few minutes to make sure that everything was perfectly organized.

She was panting and sweating when she got to her lab “Entrapta, Marshall Weaver is coming and we can’t let her find anything suspicious” she hoped her tone delivered the urgency of the situation, but she was talking to Entrapta, so of course this would fail.

“Oh ok” Entrapta said without barely even lifting her head from her current project. That silly claw prosthetic for the jaeger engineer.

“Entrapta!” This shout managed to grab the other scientist’s attention “Emily”

Realization seemed to dawn on her and she quickly started scurrying around the lab, trying to find a way to hide the huge tank of ammonia that held her pet kaiju brain. Perfuma helped her pull a metal cart containing some samples and carefully place Emily’s tank beneath some extra ugly and smelly kaiju organs.

“What do you two think you’re doing?” The Marshall’s commanding tone froze them in place. She was so angry today and they were so done.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Marshall” Perfuma smiled and tried feigning ignorance, but she knew it wouldn’t work.

The Marshall slowly made her way to Entrapta’s table and picked up one of the loose metal parts that were laying around “What is the meaning of this?” Her words were seething with anger, but if this was the source of her complains that meant they were safe.

“I was working on a new prosthetic for a friend. To help her work better” Entrapta answered this time and Perfuma wasn’t sure if she was just trying to keep the Marshall distracted or if she truly believed that Weaver gave a shit.

Weaver threw the piece across the room before walking towards Entrapta and saying in her most intimidating tone “You are K-science specialists, not toy makers. If I ever hear that you’re wasting our resources ‘helping your friends’ instead of doing your jobs I swear I’ll have you both shipped to the Kingdom of Snows” She probably would have kept going, but she was interrupted by a call on her communicator. She hastily grabbed the offending gadget and shouted “What!?”

Director Moon’s voice came through the device “We detected movement on the Breach. It seems to be moving towards Salineas, but we need you at LOCCENT in case things change” The Marshall let out a heavy sigh before turning to leave. Without saying another word to the duo. Perfuma couldn’t describe her relief. They truly managed to hide Emily away from the Marshall, but things were never that easy and those thoughts were cut short by the sound of every monitor connected to Emily’s tank going crazy simultaneously.

“What was that?” Shadow Weaver turned around and Perfuma’s heart stopped for a second. Entrapta on the other hand seemed too busy trying to interpret the influx of data to realize how absolutely fucked they both were.

“Oh my god, Emily seems to be reacting to the new Kaiju” Entrapta kept running from monitor to monitor, trying to process everything that was happening to her pet project.

“Who is Emily?” That question didn’t carry the same hot anger Weaver’s previous words had, but instead they had a cold and merciless anger that was somehow even scarier.

“Please, Ma’am, I can explain” She tried to calm her down, but Entrapta wasn’t helping.

“Perfuma, come take a look at this” Entrapta was more enthusiastic than she had been in years, but she had to pick now to do that?

The Marshall just gave a miniscule nod towards Entrapta, a way of giving Perfuma permission to go aid her colleague and did Entrapta need that aid. The data they were getting was insane. No kaiju brain ever behaved like that before, it was almost like “They are communicating” Perfuma was barely aware that she had said that out loud.

Entrapta and the Marshall responded together “What?”

“It seems to be receiving information from somewhere else. Like the new kaiju is somehow acting like an antenna, but I don’t think she has developed a means to respond yet” That was absurd, impossible. There was no way that was true “Do you understand what that means?” When no one answered she decided to say it anyway “That means there is a kaiju hivemind. They are all connected”

When she turned around to see their reactions she found the Marshall kneeling next to Emily’s tank. Her hand slowly caressing the glass as she stared at the piece of cloned kaiju brain inside. When the Marshall’s gaze finally met her own, Perfuma knew that this could only mean bad things.

* * *

Adora had been ‘dismissed’ from training today, but that just meant she had to work out at more unorthodox hours. Hours when she was sure no one would bother her about ‘not taking her time to rest’ or ‘pushing herself too much’. She was a ranger, she had to push herself or else other people would suffer. Yes, she had a little episode after chasing the R.A.B.I.T. yesterday, but that's no excuse for laziness.

She had just finished stretching when she heard steps coming towards her. It was that girl from before. The one that insisted in fighting with her and she was carrying a pair of staves “I told you I don’t wanna fight you” Adora tried to be as decisive as she was before, but this time her voice lacked any strength.

“I know” Catra answered looking really smug and tossing Adora a staff. She picked it up and was ready to toss it away when Catra came swinging with her own staff. She parried the blow before she even realised what was happening and Catra just looked at her even more smugly “but I don’t plan on giving you a choice”

Adora pushed her away and just gawked at her for a moment “Are you insane?”

“Maybe” Catra said casually as she walked around Adora, preparing to attack again “But even if I’m. I still know that the both of us need to express some rage and what better way than beating the shit out of each other?”

“Marshall Weaver is gonna-” her line of thought was cut short by Catra’s flurry of blows. One of those attacks nearly hit Adora over the head, but Catra stopped the blow before it connected.

“Gonna what? Punish me? I’m sure she would come up with a reason for it anyway” Catra retreated a few paces, but maintained her fighting stance “And that was 1 to 0, Princess”

“Fine!” Adora got in a fighting stance herself and they started circling each other “If you want attention that badly then I’ll give it to you” Adora tried to be quick and efficient, so she could get this over with quickly and get back to her training, but Catra proved to be more than a match for her skill.

“Attention? Is this what you think I want?” Catra was getting angry and that meant she was gonna start making mistakes and Adora was more than happy to capitalize on that.

“1 to 1” Adora’s staff had stopped a few inches away from Catra’s stomach and they both took a step back “And what else?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I want to help your brooding ass” Did she actually think all of this was just brooding? Adora tried to get her mind away from that and back into the fight. Catra was just trying to distract her and she was surprisingly good at that.

“And how is this helping?” Adora made a mistake and this time it was Catra who took her chance.

“Because this is making you angry” Catra just kept coming at Adora without stopping “And you are fighting back” every word was punctuated by their staves clashing “You’re caring” another clash “Just stop trying to bottle things up and fight me!”

Adora quickly sidestepped her and tripped her over with her staff “That was 2 to 2” she said breathlessly. They paused for a second as they both tried to recover. Each ragged breath seeping away the hostility in them “And you know you could have just talked to me, right?”

Catra got up on her own and smirked “Your skull is thicker than a jaeger’s. I knew a staff would get through better than words” she grabbed her staff and got into a fighting stance again “Now if you don’t mind shutting up, there is a far more interesting way we can do this talking”

Director Moon always said that training was supposed to be a conversation, not real combat and Catra never understood that, until now. They weren’t trying to hurt each other anymore or even trying to score a point, they were fighting because they were two angry children, with too many headaches and only one way of expressing all of that and they finally found someone who understood their language.

Adora was angry and hurting, she had been acting though for so long, long before Adam died and now everything she had suppressed had finally caught up to her, but right now she was smiling. She was smiling because she knew Catra understood her, in some level Catra could read her. Not only her attacks, but her feelings too. Adora had never been so happy about being an open book to someone.

When Adora halted her blow, right above Catra’s head, it felt like time itself had stopped. They both just stared at each other in this moment of stasis that seemed to drag for an eternity “4 to 3” Adora announced before stepping back and lowering her staff “I think that was enough training for me today” She started gathering her stuff and gave Catra one last wave before turning to leave “See you tomorrow, Catra”

Catra could only give her a slow nod. Her brain was too busy trying to process what just happened. Losing never felt this good. Was that what the Drift felt like? No wonder jaeger pilots couldn’t shut up about it. If just finding out you were drift compatible already felt like that she couldn’t even imagine what the real thing must be like, but with Adora’s help maybe she could find that out sometime soon. She also found out other things about herself and Adora during that fight, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that she found a partner and that she would finally be able to pilot a jaeger. Her stupid childhood crush be damned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly the logical reaction to finally getting your win streak broken by a hot girl is "god, I'm so fucking gay"
> 
> Speaking of Catra, it's so weird to see her being the reasonable one in the duo, the one with fewer issues....*looks at the plot outline*....yup, real weird


	5. Recall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra takes the chance she wanted all her life and Shadow Weaver sets terrible things in motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My computer died on me and I had to write everything on my phone, but at least I got this out on time

Catra woke up the next day feeling tired, sore and happier than she had been in years. She had finally done it, she had a co-pilot, she would ride a jaeger, succeed where even Shadow Weaver had failed and she would do all that with Adora by her side. This day would be perfect.

She entered the training room, filled with an energy that she had been missing for a long time. The other cadets all groaned as they realised she would be even more insufferably smug today. At least Kyle looked grateful that she didn’t seem as murderous as she usually did.

Catra just could not wait for Adora to show up so they could show off their compatibility, but as the class moved on and she went through more and more rounds of training with no sign of Adora, she grew more and more stressed and aggressive towards her colleagues.

Adora must have felt that too, right? That connection. It couldn’t just be something in Catra’s head, but come to think of it, Adora was the one who ever drifted with someone, who knew what compatibility really felt like. Was this just her stupid feelings? Was she so emotionally and socially inept that she confused that for drift compatibility? Catra couldn’t take any more of this. She grabbed her stuff and made her way to the barracks. She had to speak to Adora.

But today was simply not Catra’s day, for she found the last person she wanted to see, standing right in her way “Shouldn’t you be in training, cadet?” Weaver asked. She didn’t spit her words out, so Catra assumed she was in a good mood. Which was never a good thing.

Catra decided that this would not stand “I was just looking for my partner so we could get some workout together” She said casually and for a moment she swore she saw surprise flash in the Marshal’s eyes.

“Partner!” it was more a statement of anger than a proper question “Who was the unlucky soul that got stuck as the partner of a pathetic thing like you?” The disdain was nearly dripping from Shadow Weaver’s mask. Catra was going to love this next part.

“You know, just Adora” Catra put on the smuggest face she could, but that was quickly shattered by the Marshal grabbing her by her shirt.

“Don’t you lie to me, little girl” her voice was no longer acid, but fire “Not even that imbecile, Moon, would be mad enough to make you her drift partner”

“Yeah? Guess what?” Catra was no longer having any of this “We are drift compatible and there is nothing you can do about that”

Weaver just let go of her shirt and laughed “Like that has anything to do with it. Your compatibility doesn’t matter when one of you is a complete failure” and like that she walked away.

Wait. The Marshal couldn’t be implying what Catra thought she was implying “You knew it all along didn’t you? That is why you didn’t want us to train together. You were afraid we’d become partners”

“Yes, I was aware you and Adora might become compatible if I allowed you two to become close. Shared trauma can create strong bonds after all” Now it was Weaver’s turn to enjoy herself “But the only thing I feared is what would happen to this world if you were allowed to squander her potential. Adam proved to be the better candidate and even he could keep up with her”

“Then who is worthy of your precious Adora? You? Because I don’t think she will ever drift with you again” No matter what Shadow Weaver had done, what she had planned, she could no longer win, Adora would not let her win.

“The girl will come to see reason once she learns she cannot save the world with a partner like you” Even with her mask Catra could almost see the smirk in Weaver’s face.

“I told you she won’t drift with you. You won’t use her again. You lost your winning ticket” Catra had to believe that. Even if Adora ditched her today, she had to believe that.

“Isn’t she the same to you? Just your little path to fame, so you can claim you’re not a complete failure” Catra could feel her nails digging into her palm “Does it matter if it is me or you, If she is being used just the same?”

“I would never use her like that. I care about her, unlike you” 

Catra could see that smirk again “You’re dismissed, cadet. Go find your partner”

* * *

Perfuma has had better days. She has had much worse days sure, but this was not one of the good ones either. Yesterday of course was much worse, but today had her on edge. In the last 24 hours she had discovered the kaiju hivemind, been threatened to be shipped away to the coldest corners of Etheria if she ever revealed that information and ordered to secretly and unofficially work on a kaiju clone that may or may not put all their lives at risk, but at least Entrapta seemed happy and the Marshal was nowhere to be seem.

“How’s your progress with our project?” Weaver asked as she entered the lab, shattering Perfuma’s last hopes of having a nice day.

Entrapta jumped at the chance of talking about her work. Made Perfuma wonder if all those times they talked about stuff she was just happy about the subject and not about the company, but who had time for negative thoughts like that when Shadow Weaver was in the room “Emily seems to be growing strong and healthy, but without more living kaiju tissue to base our work on we don’t believe we’ll be able to completely establish a connection to the hivemind” 

The Marshall seemed unfazed by the news “So all you need is more brain samples? It should be a simple solution”

“Ma’am” Perfuma interrupted “I must remind you that you asked us not to take any official samples that could be traced back to us, so I don’t think-”

"I don’t need you to remind me of my own words, doctor” Perfuma shrinked at those words “Entrapta will not be taking samples from the Shatterdome. She will be taking them from Mystacor”

“The invisible city?” Entrapta asked excitedly “I thought it was just an urban legend”

“It is not a legend and neither is it a city” Weaver took a little card from her pocket “It is the greatest black market empire in Etheria and it is lead by a ruthless woman, but one that owes the Director quite a lot” She shone a dark light over the card, revealing a strange symbol “Look for this symbol downtown and ask to speak to Castaspella. Tell her that Angella Moon sent you and she will give you anything you need”

* * *

Adora wasn’t at the barracks or the mess hall or anywhere else Catra had looked and she had to admit that she had grown a bit desperate. The fact that she was standing in front of the Director’s office and considering knocking on her door just in case was a clear sign of this.

How would Director Moon react? She had been very kind to Catra so far, but was this pushing it? Would she retract her kindness if Catra took a step too far? Why was everything going to shit so fast? She had finally worked the guts to knock on the door when it began opening by itself.

Standing in front of her were Adora and Angella, just staring at her for a moment as she was completely frozen in this awkward position. The director simply smiled “I take it you have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave you two be” she stated before returning to her office.

She had so much to talk about with Adora, like ‘why didn’t you show up for practice?’, ‘did you feel something yesterday or was I crazy?’ and ‘Shadow Weaver has kept us apart out of spite for half or lives’, but at this point all she could do was look at Adora like an idiot and hope she had some way of starting this.

“Sorry it took so long, we had a lot to talk about” Adora stated awkwardly. Good, Adora was as useless at this as she was. Couldn’t they just fight it off with staves again? That worked out better “I was talking about you actually”

This could be very good or very bad, like disciplinary action bad. Catra decided not to take any chances “Why exactly were you talking about me?”

“Well, I was going to inform Director Moon that I had chosen my new drift partner, but she went on this long lecture about how I should not rush through things and that just testing it out with everyone would only be damaging to my psyche, but she changed her mind when I said who I wanted for my partner” Adora explained herself, leaving a clear question hanging. 

Under normal circumstances Catra would have guessed the answer correctly, but today she was not taking any chances “And who do you want as your partner?” 

Adora smiled, something that Catra had never seen her do before “Catra, I want you” these four words sent a jolt through Catra’s body and made her heart stop for a second. It was very clear that Adora meant that in a professional way, but even so it was a very particular choice of words that were bound to make her life much more miserable. She only hopped this kind of stuff did not show up in the drift “Come on, I want to get to know my new partner”

* * *

Angella stood before the several screens in her office, wearing her best suit. She could not afford to look anything other than perfect for this. Each of the screens displayed the other members of the board of directors. In the best of days they were her allies, dedicated to protecting Etheria and ending the Kaiju threat, but right now it was difficult not to see them as adversaries.

“You hardly have the manpower to maintain your forces as it is and now you wish to get rid of one of your most successful Marshals?” One of them argued “Face it, Moon, the Jaeger Program has long passed its expiration date. You can’t afford to lose anymore personnel”

‘You’ was the keyword here. They had all distanced themselves from the Jaeger Program. Now it was Angella’s program and all its flaws fell on her shoulders. Good thing she had strong shoulders “We have reason to believe Marshal Weaver is willingly putting the program in jeopardy. Allowing her to go without even an investigation is irresponsible at best and absolutely foolish at worst” Her coworkers must have gone mad if they believed simply ignoring this was the right decision “Weaver may have served well in the past, but she has proven to be at the very least unreliable”

“Excuse us if we do not believe unrecorded and subjective information taken from her young drift partner nor your own personal judgement, given your previous relationship with the Marshal” the Director cringed as her past was brought up “But at this point in time we cannot waste any more resources with your program. In fact, since you called this early meeting, this seems to be the perfect time to begin our vote on transferring funding from the jaeger program to the continental wall program.”

Of course it was about that damn wall. It was cheaper, more marketable and as long as people couldn’t see what was happening on the outside, it would be the perfect solution. The vote proceeded as expected, with Angella being the sole vote against the changes. Now they hardly had the funding necessary to keep a singular Shatterdome.

Many would have grown desperate in this situation, but Angella Moon would not allow herself to flinch. In a few months the wall will be completed and the jaeger program will be shut down, while their foe will continue to grow with no care for funding, resources or other simple limitations. So if a few months was all they had, a few months will have to be enough. Angella wiped away the drops of blood from her nose and opened up her coms “I’m done with last stands. Recall every active jaeger to the Fright Zone Shatterdome. We are going to war”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After spending so long writing Momgella it is nice to write a badass Angella for once


	6. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora learn more about each other. Meanwhile Entrapta goes on a shopping trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter got a little longer than usual
> 
> I hope it's still enjoyable

Angella needed to set several pieces in motion if her plan was to work and the most crucial of those pieces was her K-science division. Perfuma and Entrapta may have a peculiar way of working, but they were the best scientists in all of Etheria. She hand picked them after all.

She arrived at the lab to find a disgruntled Perfuma, her hair and lab coat both a mess, as she ran around the lab, trying to keep everything organized on her own. Angella cleared her throat and Perfuma immediately snapped to attention “Director Moon! It’s so nice to have you here. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?”

Angella raised an eyebrow “Where is Entrapta?” Perfuma froze. Angella could see her expression changing as she tried to come up with several explanations before completely giving up. Perfuma was a terrible liar and that was another reason why Angella chose her for this job.

“She is running some errands for the Marshal” she admitted. There was no record of the Marshal approving any recent projects, so whatever she had Entrapta working on was at the very least imoral, if not illegal.

“That was probably the scariest series of words I’ve heard in a long time” She had a long inquiry planed for Sarah in the near future, but right now she had to focus all her resources on her plan “Regardless of that. I want both of you to abandon whatever project Marshal Weaver has you working on. We are on the clock now, Doctor, I have a job for you two and I will allow you no distractions.”

“Yes, of course. We’ll get right to it” Perfuma answered eagerly “So what are we doing exactly?”

“I need you to find a way of keeping the Breach open. We’re taking the war to them”

* * *

“So what is the big plan?” Catra asked as they wandered down the corridors of the Shatterdome “How do you jaeger pilots bond?” She had nothing against Adora’s little plan, more time with Adora was always fine in her books, but she had absolutely no clue of how to execute that plan.

“I don’t actually know” Adora admitted, awkwardly “I knew my only other partner from birth, so I’m not sure how to, you know, make friends” 

“Wait a second!” Catra had to stop them after a reveal like that “There is no way miss star pilot has no friends. I can guarantee you at least half of Etheria has a weird crush on you” Catra was included in that half, but she didn’t have to admit that.

“Oh no, I have friends. It’s just that it was always them who came to talk to me, not the other way around” Her expression grew more serious “Can’t say I’ve been a good friend. Ever since my last mission I haven’t been the most ‘approachable’ person”

“They probably get it, you lost a lot that night, and if they don’t” Catra shrugged “They probably weren’t good friends to begin with” Catra had an odd way of being supportive, but Adora was grateful.

“I guess I should talk to them anyway” Adora took a deep breath and summoned back her smile “Maybe some other time. Now what do you do to make friends, Catra? Any place you like to hangout. Any friends in the Shatterdome I should meet?”

Catra was about to deny the existence of any friends when she was interrupted by a familiar voice “Hey, Catra!” Scorpia shouted as she ran towards the both of them “I haven’t seen you all day. What have you been up to?”

Catra face palmed hard and Adora waved at Catra’s giant friend. Scorpia seemed to only now notice the presence of another person in the halway “Oh hello. Who are you? Catra, is she your friend too?”

Catra sighed loudly “Adora, this is Scorpia. Scorpia, this is Adora” Scorpia’s smile beamed as she realized who she was talking to.

“No way! You’re Adora? Like the star of the Jaeger Program. That Adora?” Scorpia blurted out and Adora only nodded in confirmation “Man, I can’t believe this. I’ve been working on your jaeger all day. Can’t wait to see you take that beauty into action”

“I knew I recognized the uniform. You work on engineering” Scorpia seemed to somehow grow even happier, while Catra just mourned the loss of her day alone with Adora “And don’t worry, if everything goes right tomorrow, me and Catra will be piloting Light Hope in no time”

“Oh my god! Catra is your copilot? Catra, you got a copilot?” Adora laughed at Scorpia’s excitement. It was a genuine laugh, a kind laugh, the kind that Catra could get used to hearing. Perhaps having Scorpia here to talk wasn’t so bad after all.

* * *

The streets of the Fright Zone were narrow, crowded and overly complicated. It was an evolving labyrinth buildt upon layers and layers of older buildings and Kaiju bones. It was fascinating. 

Entrapta skipped through the dirty streets, shining her dark light at every street sign and store front she could see, following that weird little symbol to Mystacor. She wondered how they ran maintenance on that stuff and how did potential buyers even know about this? She should ask this Castaspella lady how that worked. The last sign pointed to a simple little store, with a sign featuring the three moons of Etheria. That looked like the right place. 

She stepped inside and happily announced her presence “Hello, I was looking for miss Castaspella” the old lady at the counter didn’t seem to react to that name at all “Oh right” she shone her dark light again, now at the piece of paper the Marshall handed her. The woman smirked and signed to two guards Entrapta hadn’t noticed. 

They locked the door behind her and began escorting her to the back wall. She was so excited when the wall was revealed to be a secret door - she should totally install one of those in her lab - hiding an elaborate and elegant room many times larger than the store she was just in. The room was bustling with people, covered nearly wall to wall in Kaiju tissue samples and at the center of it all stood a tall and strong woman with an eyepatch.

“Oh you must be Castaspella. I need to talk to you” Entrapta approached her cheerfully and was met with a simple growl.

“That is Octavia, dearest, she is my bodyguard” A kind voice called behind her. Entrapta turned around to see an older woman in a beautiful purple dress, she smiled at her “I am Castaspella”

“Yes, of course” Entrapta corrected herself “I needed to talk to you. It is of vital importance to my research”

Castaspella gave her a soft smile “A fellow K-scientist. Working for my sister-in-law I presume” Entrapta looked confused for a moment “Ah yes, of course she wouldn’t mention it. I’m clearly not her favorite conversation topic. Regardless, what would your research require, dearest?”

“I require some Kaiju brain samples. Now, I know what you’re thinking. A kaiju’s skull is too thick, so by the time you manage to drill through it the brain is pretty much useless, but what I’m looking for-”

“Is the secondary brain. Very clever” Castaspella nodded along “It’s been quite a while since someone requested one of those from me and the last one wasn’t very happy with her purchase either, so why would you need that?”

“I’m sorry, but that is classified” Entrapta shifted her weight around a bit “But it is really cool, like really cool!” Castaspella raised an eyebrow “Ok ok, but it can’t leave this room” Casta leaned closer and turned her ear to the small scientist “I’m cloning a kaiju brain to hack into their hive mind”

* * *

Adora was doing her best not to freak out. The last two times she drifted with another person ended catastrophically. Right when she thought the wound left by Adam had finally closed, Shadow Weaver opened it again and made it hurt more than ever. It was like a part of her was not only missing, but still bleeding and now she had to trust another person to take care of it, to stop the bleeding.

“Don't attach yourself to anything” she told Catra as they strapped themselves to the jaeger “Just let the memories flow through you. Good or bad, just let them run by”

“Yeah” Catra answered, her mind brought back from wherever it was wandering “Yeah, just let it flow” She took a deep breath “It won't be like last time, okay? I promise”

“Cut the chatter” came Shadow Weaver’s angry voice through the radio - Adora was starting to understand more and more why people liked that nickname - “Neural Handshake will begin in 15 seconds. Let’s get this over with”

She fidgeted a bit in her suit. She spent too long trying not to feel things, not to touch that wound, but that is exactly why she chased the rabbit, why she became lost in the drift. She had to face it again and hope that this time everything would be alright.

At the other end of Light Hope's Conn-pod Catra struggled do remain still. It was odd to think this was Catra's first time. She almost felt bad that after years looking for a partner all she could find was her. Little old damaged Adora. This handshake would not be a pleasant experience for either of them.

After 15 excruciatingly long seconds it began. Adora was yanked through a torrent of memories that were not her own. Years and years under Weaver’s tutelage, an endless cycle of hard work, punishment and ever growing frustration. She felt worthless, useless, but right at the end of it all there was a small light, a little girl in a storm bunker. A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Adora. “We’ll get through this, okay? You and me, we’ll be fine”

“Calibrations complete. Neural Handshake stable” Light Hope’s AI announced. Adora took a deep breath as realization set in. The girl that always found her in the Drift had somehow found her in real life. She could feel Catra’s awe at the whole experience, her mind adapting to not being alone anymore.

“Light Hope, what is your status?” Shadow Weaver brought them back to reality once again. Adora’s mind was flooded with mean spirited comments towards the Marshall and only some of those were hers. She gave Catra a silent nudge in their shared mindspace as she decided to go with a slightly less angry option.

“LOCCENT this is Greyskull, we’ve finished calibrating and are combat ready” This wasn’t Adora’s real jaeger, but it would also never be Weaver’s, the same way Adora would never be hers again. Their jaegers fists met in front of them with a resounding metal clash. This felt good.

Adora had missed this, the high that came with sharing this much power and Catra’s excitement over her first drift only amplified the feeling. They could finally fight, make a difference, save the world, they had the power.

Yet as easily as this power had come to them it was taken away. Their minds were split apart again and Light Hope powered down “That is enough. We got what we wanted, now free the jaeger for maintenance” 

Catra was pretty sure routine maintenance shouldn’t start for at least another hour - Scorpia was very open about her schedule - but she wasn’t in the mood to start another pointless argument with Weaver “Come on” she turned to Adora “Let’s celebrate”

* * *

The Fright Zone was a cold and humid place, it was always cloudy and the streets were a confusing mess filled with the most unpleasant scents. It was not Glimmer’s favorite place in the world, but as jaeger pilot it was still her duty to protect this place and if every pilot was getting recalled here, then she would answered that call, just not all that enthusiastically.

There were some benefits to her relocation though. She would be working directly with her mom now and even though she could be a little overbearing Glimmer missed her very much. There was also the fact that she would get to see Adora again. Last time they saw each other Adora was still in her hospital bed and was not ready to talk about what happened or about anything really, but perhaps things had changed in her time in the Fright Zone. At least Glimmer hoped so.

The trip there was long and had far more Sea Hawk than she could handle. Now that they were finally here she felt anxious. This was her first time operating outside of Brightmoon and now she was supposed to team up with the best pilots out there. At least she still had Bow by her side.

Director Moon - it still felt odd to call her that - had personally escorted them through the Shatterdome and introduced them to all mission critical staff members as well as the facility itself. Now Glimmer was free to wander around the place until the next kaiju attack or until her mom was ready to reveal whatever her big plan was.

As she walked down the corridors to the barracks she could hear people ahead of her having a completely careless conversation “Not to judge or anything, but ‘By the Power of Greyskull’, really?” Glimmer didn’t recognize that voice, but she did recognize the laughter that came after. It was Adora’s.

“In my defense it was Adam’s idea. He wanted something cool to shout when we got our swords out” Glimmer was filled with relief to hear Adora talking about her brother with such joy in her voice “Well, I guess we can’t do that anymore. Not without-”

“Hey, I got an idea for that one, okay?” She could see them ahead of her now, casually walking down the barracks “No spoilers though. You’re gonna have to find that one out on the drift” 

Glimmer felt a strange pang of jealousy. This was Adora’s copilot, she was the one Adora was so open with and that made her so happy, the girl that would get to know Adora like no one else could. Glimmer smothered that feeling promptly. Adora was happy, she was laughing and she had someone to take care of her when Glimmer couldn’t. In the end she was glad for the both of them, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun at their expense “You do know I can hear you two all the way down the corridor, right?” she shouted playfully.

“Glimmer?” Adora froze, turning around and rushing to give Glimmer a hug “I missed you so much. How have you been? And where is Bow?” Adora looked just like she had before the incident. Cheerful, kind and wearing a tanktop that was way too fitting for Glimmer’s sanity.

“He is probably still listening to Sea Hawk’s absurd stories” Glimmer giggled

“So is this your turn to be embarrassed by your friends or am I the only going through that this week?”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Glimmer asked

“Oh of course. Catra, this is Glimmer, my best friend and colleague from the Brightmoon Shatterdome, and Glimmer, this is Catra, she is my new copilot” Scruffy was the best way to describe the woman standing before her. With a messy hair, messy uniform and a look that invited trouble with open arms. Glimmer could see exactly why Adora liked her.

“Well, Catra, if you want embarrassing Adora stories I’ll be happy to share” Catra and Glimmer shared a conspiratory smile as Adora groaned.

* * *

“I’m back” Entrapta announced cheerfully as she entered the lab, pulling a massive metal box behind her “And I got new parts for Emily”

“That is great” Perfuma answered automatically. Not taking her eyes away from the dozens of simulations she had running simultaneously. How was she going to make this mess work?

“What are you working on?” Entrapta asked, now directly behind Perfuma.

“The Director asked me to find a way of keeping the Breach open so she can mount an attack against the kaiju” She massaged her temple, trying to deal with her mounting headache “I ran some simulations and it looks like the Breach would stabilize itself in about six months, but that is three months after we completely run out of funds. Unless there is a spike in kaiju activity we might as well kiss the jaeger program goodbye”

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll probably get a large spike pretty soon” Entrapta mentioned casually, like she didn’t just announce the most frightening news possible.

“And how would you know that?” Entrapta would be the death of her

“Oh, Castaspella mention told me that” She proceeded to open that metal box and unload all the samples onto her table. Perfuma cleared her throat to get her attention “Oh right. Last time someone tried experimenting with a live kaiju brain it caused a massive spike in kaiju activity, so Emily will probably accelerate your schedule considerably”

Perfuma was understandably freaked out about the news and had several question to ask Entrapta, but all of this would have to wait for later as she was receiving a call from LOCCENT “Yes, Marshall?” She asked, doing her best to keep a calm voice.

“You two are required at Mission Control immediately. We have kaiju coming our way. Two category fours” 

“I’m sorry, Marshall, did you say two kaiju are coming our way?” at this point no news would surprise Perfuma anymore, but she had to make sure.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, doctor. Two category fours. Codenames Mantena and Clawful”

Oh this would be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 chapters in and only one kaiju fight? We have to fix that


End file.
